Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
C hemistry
Cameron
They finally changed my late afternoon chemistry class for a morning one. Thank God for Dakota. She’s been sitting in for me, taking notes for the last four weeks. The professor is super cool and understands the situation.
He even allowed me to take the two exams I missed during his office hours. He was actually the one who got me into his morning session. Friday was the only class I could get with him as my professor.
I’m dragging this morning because I was up all night talking to Kay. She’s really fucked up over her parents. I still can’t get my head around all the shit that’s come to light since my mama brought it all up a week ago.
I’m lost in thought as I walk to class with my hands in my hoodie and my head down. I never got around to calling Amina yesterday. I hope I get to see her in the science building this morning.
She has a class here around this time. I remember that from the morning I ran her down. I hope we can hang out this weekend. After all the shit going on with Kay, I could use one of our good talks and a few laughs.
“Maribel, wait.”
I lift my head as someone calls out. Looking ahead, I find Amina and the redhead she’s always with. The redhead runs up to her and hands her something, then they hug and Amina ducks into the class I’m headed for.
With a smile, I pick up the pace and head to class. I want to surprise her, so I pull my hoodie low as I slip into the room quietly. The small lecture hall is already packed.
This course has one hour for lectures and one for labs. I’ll have to make up a few labs in the next few weeks, but I’m not sweating it. Chemistry is one of my strong suits.
A grin comes to my lips as I find a seat a few rows behind Amina. I watch as she talks to another girl while she laughs. It’s like people gravitate to her light.
Others flock over and join their conversation. I watch on, observing how gorgeous she is. I don’t think she knows how effortlessly she holds everyone’s attention.
The professor enters the hall and puts his bag and coffee cup down. He looks up at the little crowd around Amina and shakes his head. A smile comes to his lips.
“Why am I not surprised my star student is the center of everyone’s attention. Miss Maribel Jones. Why don’t you come to the front of the room? You can hand out the pop quiz I’m sure you’re going to ace,” the professor calls out.
I knit my brow and freeze as Amina stands and heads to the front of the room. Everyone else groans as they go to settle in their seats. I can’t take my eyes off Amina.
“Hey Maribel, spill his coffee on the papers,” someone calls.
Amina laughs and shakes her head at the guy who shouts out to her. I narrow my eyes as my chest begins to tighten. I’m confused.
Why would she tell me her name is Amina if it’s Maribel? We’ve been friends for weeks now. I thought I could trust her.
Clearly, she doesn’t trust me if she couldn’t even tell me her real name. I feel sick. The one person I thought cared, the person I was beginning to trust and thought I could bring into my inner circle, is nothing but a fucking liar.
My eyes are glued to her as she moves up row after row, counting off quizzes and passing the stacks down. When she gets to my row, I push my hood back and stare right at her.
She freezes and drops the remaining quizzes to the ground. I get up and move to the end of the aisle to help her pick them up. She looks up at me nervously.
“Good morning, Amina. Or should I say Maribel?” I bite out.
“Cam, I can explain.”
“Don’t bother.”
I grab a quiz for myself and hand her back the others. For the rest of the class, I act as if she doesn’t exist. I turn my focus to my exam and keep it there.
When I’m done, I turn it in and head out of class. I’m fucking fuming. At least with Kay, I know what I’m getting.
How could she lie to my face for weeks? If she could tell one lie how many others has she told. All I wanted was someone to be real with me and who I could be real with.
“Fuck,” I roar as I head toward the parking lot to get into my car and head home.
“Cam, wait. Cam.”
I don’t turn to acknowledge her. I’m too hurt to look at her right now. Trust is everything to me.
I almost risked my brother’s future to have this girl in my life. If she could lie to my face like this, there’s no telling the harm she could’ve brought to Caleb and my family.
“Cameron, please.”
I round on her and glare. She stops running and walks to me slowly. So many things fall into place as my mind races.
The time I called her name, and she kept walking like she didn’t hear me. The way she stiffened every time I called her Amina. I should’ve questioned it all from the beginning.
“What do you want?” I snarl.
“I want to explain.”
“You don’t owe me anything. I don’t know you, so you don’t have to explain anything to me. You have a good one, Maribel.”
“Cam,” she chokes out.
I shake my head at her. I have nothing else to say and I don’t want to hear anything else.
I keep walking. I’m so pissed off I can’t see straight. Un-fucking-believable.
“Hey, Cam.”
I stop and freeze. Before I can pull my thoughts together, everything is turned on its head. This looks bad. This looks really bad.
Maribel
I swallow hard as Cam turns to walk away. From the moment I saw him in class, I could see the hurt in his eyes. This is my fault.
I should have told him the truth. I had planned to. I was getting sick of hearing him call me Amina. I just couldn’t figure out how to tell him the truth.
Now, as he’s walking away from me, I know I should have just come out and said it. He said he doesn’t know me, that’s a lie. Cam knows me better than most.
“Cam,” I whisper once more.
He doesn’t hear me, and he doesn’t turn. My heart feels like it’s spilling out from my body. That’s when everything changes.
“Hey, Cam,” the dark-haired girl walking toward him calls out.
She’s pretty and tall like me. The way she rushes into Cam’s arms speaks of a familiarity some random girl wouldn’t have. She cups his face and kisses him.
I’ve never been punched so hard in my chest in real life, but this feels like I’ve been punched right in my heart by Tyson in his prime. I stumble back and wrap my arms around my middle.
I only lied about my name. Dez isn’t my boyfriend. He’s nothing to me, so I can’t say I’ve been cheating on him with Cam. However, it looks like Cam has had a girlfriend all along from the way this chick is kissing him.
Cam looks into my eyes from over her head. I nod as I bite back my hurt feelings and turn to leave. This was never meant to be.
I played myself, getting involved with a guy I knew nothing about. At least I figured it out before I did something stupid like sleep with him. Although, I did fuck up and fall in love with him.
“This is for the best,” I mutter as I head back to class for my bag.